They Called Her Mrs Potter
by Rachel Weasley
Summary: Ginny is a young woman, looking for a young husband. When will the right man come along? If you recognize it, I don't own it. Read Author Note to understand story.
1. A Delighful Dinner

Author Note: I decided I would give this a whirl. First of all, Ginny lives somewhere in London. Everyone is still magical except there is no Hogwarts. Hermione is a neighbor and no one knows Harry Potter.

Chapter One

A Delightful Dinner

"Oh Hermione! Please say you'll come!" Ginny Weasley sat on her bed, tugging the sleeve of her best friend, Hermione Granger. Hermione looked at her, understanding her dilemma.

"You have to come! I'll be the only girl there except for mum! Besides," Ginny added with a glint in her eye, "Not only will there be many very good looking boys, there will also be my brother." Hermione gaped at her.

"How can you even suggest that?" Hermione said, a flush coming to her cheeks.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come off it Hermione, I know you like Ron and he likes you too!"

Hermione sat, deep in thought for several minutes. "Oh," she sighed, "If it's all right with my mum."

Ginny squealed with delight. "I already asked her and she said yes! You have to go home and get dressed! Be here at seven!" She said, handing Hermione her wand and shooing her out the door. Ginny collapsed on her bed.

Ginny Weasley was the daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley. Her father, though still working in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts section of the Ministry of Magic, had been appointed as the one to give all the new Auror's their Welcome feast once accepted into the ministry. Year after year Ginny had attended welcoming feasts for the newcomers. This time she was not going to be the only girl in the house! Why hadn't she thought of inviting Hermione before?

Although Ginny had eyed some of the young gentlemen in the past, she had been too young to show any serious interest. This year was different. Ginny was almost 18, and though Arthur still didn't want to think that she should be showing any interest, her mother knew that over the last year, Ginny had took a big step from childhood to womanhood.

Being the youngest and only girl of seven children, Ginny had created a strong friendship with her neighbor, Hermione Granger.

* * *

Hermione arrived an hour early to help prepare. She was dressed in robes of Dark Purple and her unruly hair had been more than likely magicked to where it was sleek and shiny. Ginny herself had dressed in the deepest shade of green she could find in her closest. The fabric clung to her soft curves and showed off her figure nicely. Ginny looked into the hall mirror. She had put her fiery red hair up in curls on top of her head.

"How many are here?" Hermione asked. Ginny thought for a minute, counting everyone up in her head.

"There are seven aurors, ten of us, including you, and two official aurors from the ministry. So that makes nineteen in all!" Hermione gaped at her.

"Do you know their names?" she asked as they made their way to the living room.

Ginny laughed, " Dad seemed to tell us everything except that."

They waited several minutes until her whole family had gathered into the living room.

"Ok," her father said, "lets go."

* * *

Ginny sat at the large table that seated all nineteen of them. After the speeches the two Ministry aurors gave, everyone settled down for a delicious dinner. Ginny looked at each of the young men one at a time.

If she remembered correctly, there was a Mr. Clees, Mr. Wargrave, Mr. Culmington, Mr. Claythorne, Mr. Seton, Mr. Lombard, and Mr. Potter.

She took a bite of food, listening to Hermione talk to Mr. Clees. He seemed to fancy her, unless she was mistaking his flirting. Her eyes darted over to her brother Ron, who was looking sulkily at Mr. Clees while carrying on a conversation with Mr. Claythorne. Ginny held back a giggle and looked down at her food.

When she looked up, she found herself starting into startling green eyes behind round glasses. She felt a blush creep up into her face and tried to push it down. Oh, this young man was very handsome. He couldn't be any older that nineteen though. He had beautiful green eyes and very messy raven hair. She gave him a soft smile, which he returned. She tore her eyes away from him when Hermione tugged at her elbow. She leaned close to whisper in Ginny's ear.

"They are all so handsome!" she giggled. "And Mr. Clees is very flirtatious."

"And Ron is very jealous!" she whispered back. Hermione sent her a look but Ginny paid her no mind.

"You only have one daughter Mrs. Weasley?" she heard a voice across from her inquire, and her head almost jerked up.

"One girl," responded her mother, "and six boys."

Ginny carefully turned her head.

"It's rather a shame," the Mr. Potter continued. "I'm sure the neighborhood young men had wished that you had provided at least a dozen."

Ginny could not help it. She found herself looking yet again into a pair of teasing, but kind eyes. Her face reddened as she quickly dropped her eyes from the gaze of Mr. Potter's and listened to her mother reply, "Ginny is quickly becoming an attractive young woman. I am sure that my husband will soon have to guard the front door." Everyone's laughter followed her mother's comment.

Ginny lifted her chin a bit and her head gave a nod. If they were having fun at her expense, then she would not spoil it by responding. She looked directly across the table at Mr. Potter. "And are you from around here Mr. Potter?" Her smile was confident.

"I do live here in London." Came the reply.


	2. Conversations

Chapter Two

Conversations

"I have a confession." Hermione said, sitting down on the chintz window seat. The dinner was over and Hermione, Ginny, and her family had returned home.

Ginny joined her friend on the window seat and looked at her. "What is it?"

Hermione looked rather embarrassed. "Well, even though the conversation with Mr. Clees was very nice, I- I think I have feelings for your brother." Hermione blushed further as Ginny squealed.

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"And your brother also asked if her could take me out to dinner." Hermione looked quite pleased with herself yet embarrassed at the thought of it.

"Where are you going to go?" she asked.

"He hasn't decided yet. Ron just told me to be here at seven and he would take care of the rest." Hermione fiddled with the latch on the window. She looked at Ginny, about to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Mr. Potter couldn't seem to take his eyes off you." Hermione said. Ginny's cheeks flushed. The thoughts seemed to be turning over in her head.

"I noticed." Ginny said. "Aren't his eyes beautiful though?"

Over the winter months, more young aurors did come and some of the old ones that had already been accepted attended the feasts as well. Hermione came many times, but not every time.

"Ron asked me to dinner again," Hermione whispered one evening to Ginny as they left the table and headed up the stairs to her room.

"Are you two getting serious?" Ginny asked. She had to extract all the information she could about the two of them from Hermione because Ron refused to say a word to her about it.

* * *

Her parents had taken her brothers to a quidditch game somewhere outside of London. Ginny wanted to go but thought it was too cold to go out. So Ginny was home alone when the doorbell rang.

She sat down the muggle novel she was reading and got up to answer the door. She was very surprised to see Mr. Potter standing outside the door. He was dressed in a heavy coat and seemed to be shivering. Ginny stood for a second, looking at him then came back to her senses.

"Mr. Potter! Please come in!" she said, closing the door on the cold wind as he stepped into the house.

"Is your father here Miss Weasley?" he asked as she took his coat.

"No, my parents took my brothers to a quidditch game." She said, leading him into the living room to sit in front of the fire.

"Do you not like quidditch?" he asked, seating himself beside her on the plump couch.

"Oh yes, I love quidditch, I just thought it was to cold to go outside today so I decided to retreat to the fire and read a good book." She smiled at him. "Do you like quidditch?" she inquired.

"Oh yes, I love it. I've just been so busy with auror training that I haven't had the time. But I would rather be playing than sitting in the stands. I would also rather prefer the seeker position."

Ginny looked him over. He likely would enjoy the sport. He seemed to be built for the seeker position.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I? I just needed to speak to your father about- umm… something rather important."

"Not at all. As I said before, I was just relaxing in front of the fire, reading my book." She said.

"What have you been reading?" he asked.

"Oh, just a muggle novel," she picked up her book. " Gone With the Wind, have you heard of it."

"Oh no, I'm not much for reading. I prefer going out to staying in." he said.

They continued their conversation until her family came home. Mr. Potter and her father shut all the doors around the living room and talked privately for a long while.


	3. Would You Consider?

Chapter 3

Would you consider?

Ginny stretched her arms lazily above her head as she soaked up the morning sunlight. She yawned and rolled over on her stomach, snuggling her face into her pillow. She breathed in the fresh air of the morning. _I could sleep all day!_ She thought to herself. And no sooner after the thought entered her mind, she heard a pounding on the door.

"Oh Ginny dearest!" she heard an evil, sugar coated voice call.

"Time to wake up!" she heard another identical voice say.

She heard the door creek loudly as someone opened it. She buried her head deeper into her pillow. "Go away!" she mumbled.

"Tsk, tsk Gin!" The pillow was suddenly pulled out from under her head and her face landed hard on the mattress. She felt the sheet being pulled off her bed and the cool morning air seeped through her pajamas. She felt hand smack her hard on the rump and another snap her bra strap. She eased her body up off the bed, growling at her twin brothers.

"FRED!" She yelled at the one who was holding the pillow.

"I'm not Fred! I'm George!" he said, throwing the pillow at her.

"I don't bloody care which one you are! If you're going to come in my room and torture me into waking up one more time then I will do things to you so vile that you wouldn't believe a girl thought such things in her mind!" she yelled.

Her brothers looked at each other, then back at Ginny. "Cranky, aren't we?" they asked and bolted out the door before she could throw anything at them.

Her mother walked into her room and started fussing with Ginny's bed. "Why is it always such a mess every morning?" her mother asked.

Ginny brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Why don't you ask your demon twin sons?" she asked.

* * *

Over the weeks Ginny did her weekly shopping and helped her mother prepare all the food for the feasts.

At tonight's feast they were seating 23. Ginny was highly amused by the three American triplets that were there. They seemed to get along perfectly with her twin brothers. Even a few of the already accepted Auror's attended dinner. And much to her pleasure, so did Mr. Potter.

Hermione still carried on a conversation with Mr. Clees while Ron still sat sulkily, sending a few killer glares at the man.

She had been able to enter the dinner conversation a few times and she didn't seem to blunder at all. She felt a little bit heady about it and wished that the dinner could have gone on longer than it had.

* * *

Ginny sat with her mother on the back porch swing, helping her mother knit some socks for her father. Fred and George suddenly came out the back door, grinning at each other. "Someone's here to see you." They said. Ginny put aside her knitting and walked passed her brothers. But she seemed to miss it when they wiggled their eyebrows at one another.

Expecting Hermione, Ginny pushed open the door to the living room and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. Her face paled, then flushed when someone rose to their feet. She was facing Mr. Potter. Her smile that had been there had faded quickly.

"I'm-I'm sorry. I thought-" She could not finish her sentence. She had misunderstood the entire situation.

Mr. Potter realized something had gone amiss.

"Your brothers didn't tell you?" he asked.

"No. No, he- well, yes, he- he did say someone was here to see me, but I thought-"Ginny fumbled.

"Oh," He said, his head lifting back. "But you didn't expect me."

"Yes, I really wasn't expecting it to be you. I thought- Hermione" Her face flushed again and she fidgeted with her hands.

"I hope you aren't to disappointed that it's me." He responded.

"Oh, it isn't that- it's just-just. I never thought that you'd-you'd," she fumbled her words some more. Could her face get any redder?

"You thought that I could sit at that table week after week and not see for myself what an attractive woman you are?" he asked.

She was caught off guard by his statement. "It's just that, you're always so serious about your work and- and so quiet."

He smiled at her and Ginny saw how it made his facial features look so soft. Ginny's head was reeling. Suddenly, she felt the need to sit down. She was glad a chair was at hand. He eased it under her as she began to sink. His hand rested lightly on her shoulder.

"I just need to catch my breath." She said, relaxing back into the cushion.

Ginny took in some deep breaths and her head stopped spinning. He watched her closely for a few moments before removing his hand. She wished he wouldn't.

"I didn't know that such a beautiful woman as yourself would be so shocked that someone would stop by to ask if she would accompany him to dinner.

"It's just-"

"I know. You thought I was only interested in my work." He said teasingly.

He sat on the edge of the coffee table and smiled at her again. She had never seen a person's eyes look so enchanting. But sometimes she couldn't see his eyes because they were hidden behind his glasses. She managed to nod her head and return his smile.

"Can we start over?" he asked. She laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

"Can I go out and come back in?" she asked. He chuckled and nodded.

She went out the door and closed it. She stood outside it a few moments, willing her racing heart to slow down. She opened the door and stepped in, a smile upon her face.

"Miss Weasley," he said, walking toward her and taking her hand. He talked animatedly to her. "Thank you for agreeing to see me. I know I have done nothing in the past to show my feelings for you, but could you, would you even think of accompanying me to dinner?"

She laughed at him. "Why Mister Potter! I would be absolutely delighted!" she said.

"When may I take you to dinner?" he asked, releasing her hand.

"Whenever works for you." She said.

"How about tomorrow evening?" he asked.

She clasped her hands together, feeling her heart lift. "Tomorrow it is!"


	4. Goodbye Proposals

Chapter Four

Goodbye Proposals

Mr. Potter arrived at the appointed hour the next evening. If Ginny worried about the evening dragging, she shouldn't have. She was surprised by the number of things they had to discuss and found Mr. Potter to be a relaxed and enjoyable companion.

"Miss Weasley, if I might ask, do you have a first name?" Mr. Potter asked her as they walked down the wizarding streets of London. Ginny pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, I do. My name is Ginerva, but everyone calls me Ginny." She smiled at him.

"Ginny, such a beautiful name, much like yourself. It seems to match your hair." Ginny laughed as he reached over and rubbed the fiery strands between his fingers.

"And do you have a first name? Or would you prefer to be called Mr. Potter until your dying days?" she asked as his hand retreated.

He chuckled softly and said, "Harry."

"Harry is a nice name. But you know all about my family. What's your like? Do you have any siblings? What are your parents like?" A sad and depressed look crossed his face. Ginny wished almost at once that she hadn't asked.

"I have no siblings. My parents died many, many years ago." He said quietly, slipping his hand around hers.

"I'm so sorry." She said. Harry didn't let go of her hand. She felt the warmth of his hand as she entwined her fingers with his.

They stopped outside her house. He took her by surprise when he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight Ginny." He said as he opened the gate to her yard.

* * *

For months, which soon turned into a year, Harry called on her as frequently as his job would allow. Harry soon told her about his job plans. They were moving him to Greece to do some auror work in a two weeks time. He had to stay there for many months. That seemed like an eternity. Ginny soon realized that she was no longer a young girl in love with love. She was a young woman in love with a man.

She dreaded him going but knew that he loved his job. She also knew that Harry might not feel free to speak of marriage until he had worked long enough to properly support a wife. She hated to think of all those long lonely days without him.

Those two weeks ticked by to quickly, Harry still did not speak of marriage, and Ginny often wished she were free to bring up the subject herself. Harry only had three days left before he had to board the train to leave.

The next day managed to drag. Her mum suggested that she should go do a little bit of window-shopping to pass the time away. She picked up Hermione along the way and they walked around the shops, pausing occasionally to look into a window.

Harry was so busy packing that he didn't get a chance to stop by until the next day. _Their last day!_ Ginny moaned to herself. Shouldn't they be making their plans? But Harry didn't seem to share her concerns.

* * *

"You will come to the train with me, won't you?" he asked, lifting her chin, which had become a habit to him. Ginny nodded. She couldn't imagine not going to see him off.

"We need to talk," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her gently. Ginny couldn't understand it. If he needed to talk, why didn't he talk? She was there and was listening. Reluctantly, she climbed the stairs to her room. Tomorrow would be his last chance to ask her.

"Will you write me?" Harry asked her as he stood outside his train compartment.

"Of course." She said, tears stinging her eyes. "How could I not?"

"Time will pass." He said. "I will have my work and you will have your friends and family. Before we know it, the will be shipping me back here.

They heard the first train whistle signaled for all the passengers to board the train. Harry kissed her and Ginny squeezed him tight, not wanting to let go. She pressed her face into his chest. "Goodbye Ginny." He whispered in her ear.

She pulled back and saw tears forming in his emerald eyes. They looked dark with sorrow. She reached up to clasp the hand that brushed her cheek and the tears began to spill from her eyes.

He left her and went to his compartment. He lifted up the window and leaned out. He blew her a kiss and moved to lean back into the train but she called "Just a minute!" through the noise and he leaned out further.

"Are you going to ask me to marry you or aren't you?" she yelled as loud as she could so he would hear her over the roar of the train. She knew he understood because of the shocked look on his face.

"Well-?" she yelled again, "Are you?"

"We need to talk!" he yelled back. But Ginny wanted an answer. The train began to move slowly down the tracks and Ginny walked along with it.

"Are you?" she insisted. "Because if you are, I'm saying yes!"

People around them grinned at Ginny but she ignored them. She continued to walk with the train, her face turned upward.

"You'd say yes?" he asked, excitement showing all over his face. He stretched further from the train. He cupped his hands around his mouth so that she would hear him.

"Ginny Weasley." He yelled. "I love you, will you marry me?"

Ginny forgot to walk. She stopped, her hands flying up to her face. He loved her. He said he loved her!

The train moved on without her, slowly gathering speed. Suddenly she realized she forgot to answer him. She cupped her hands to her mouth.

"Yes! I will!"

She touched her fingers to her lips and threw a kiss at him. He pretended to catch it and put it on his lips. She stood on the platform; tears streaming down her face, watching the train carry away the man she loved.


End file.
